Less than two years after buying Aspen Dental, Leonard Green is getting a paid via a $127 mln dividend. Also, Ares and CPPIB have put in at least $636 mln equity into $1.6 bln buy of 99 Cents Only Stores, according to S&P.

Aspen Dental, which is being acquired by Leonard Green, received a “B” corporate credit rating with a stable outlook from Standard & Poor’s.

S&P, in a statement Thursday, said the stable rating reflects expectations that Aspen will continue growing but that leverage will remain high. It’s unclear how much debt Aspen actually has.

However, Aspen Dental is in the market trying to raise about $230 million in fresh credit. This includes a $195 million term loan and a $35 million 5-year revolving credit facility, according to Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp. UBS is leading the loan package, LPC said.

Today, I was reading the wires, and my competitors, when I spotted something familiar. There’s a story in the New York Post about the sale of Aspen Dental and how the company could be sold for $500 million.

But wait. Didn’t I—meaning peHUB—report last week that Leonard Green & Partners was buying the company for $500 million? I believe so. Without thinking, I did what I always do. I started writing a snarky email to my boss, where I giggled about my competitors. I was nearly done before I realized that Dan is gone. Heavy sigh.

And that’s one of my biggest losses here with how things are changing. I’ve only been at peHUB three months, but I’ve been a reporter for over 10 years. Some of you know me pretty well, some a little bit and some wonder why my avatar is so goofy. But let me tell you this. Rarely, have I found a boss who can talk scoops with me, what’s going on in the PE world, and how my cat is doing, all rolled into one person. Dan might be too busy with his new job to talk to me.

PHILADELPHIA/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Private equity firm Ares Management has put Aspen Dental, a chain of dentistry practices, up for sale, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Ares, which made its initial investment in Aspen Dental in 2006, has hired Moelis & Co to auction the business, sources said. Ares, Moelis and Aspen [...]